RED Tape Act

Key Points

• The RED Tape Act aims to narrow the responsibilities of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Under current law, the EPA must review and comment on major federal construction projects and any new rules proposed by other government agencies to ensure they do not harm the environment or violate air quality standards.
• This bill would remove those requirements. The EPA would no longer be required to spend time or resources reviewing things like new highway projects or energy regulations written by other departments. Instead, the agency would only be required to review actual legislation proposed by Congress.
• The change is intended to stop different parts of the government from doing the same work twice and to help federal projects move faster. By cutting these reviews, the bill's sponsor hopes to reduce delays for construction and new government programs that are often held up by lengthy environmental review processes.
• However, this change could mean that environmental impacts might not be as closely watched. Since the EPA is the main expert on pollution and nature, losing their mandatory input on other agencies' plans could lead to less environmental protection during big building projects or when new federal rules are created.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.